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The Journal
2011-11 Summit Journal
IN THIS ISSUE: Examining the Chronic U.S. Debt
» pg. 2 | Letter from the Editor
» pg. 3 | Breakdown of the U.S. Debt
» pg. 7 | Catching Up with a Summit Alum
* Sociology, Economics, Politics, Islam
* More articles can be found in the online version of The Journal at summit.org
2011-08 Summit Journal
IN THIS ISSUE:
» pg. 2 | Letter from the Editor
» pg. 3 | A Look at Our World
* Christianity, Sociology History, and Education
* More articles can be found in the online version of The Journal at summit.org
2008-10 Summit Journal
Journal - October 2008
Essays
The Three Kinds of Illiteracy
Education at all levels in the United States has reached the crisis stage. Of course, the situation didn't arise yesterday; it has developed over a period of decades. Nor is the crisis news to people who have been paying attention to what's been going on in the country. This crisis of education is manifested in three levels of illiteracy: functional illiteracy, cultural illiteracy, and moral illiteracy. Typically, to say that a person is illiterate means that the person cannot read or write. But the word does have other senses. It is sometimes used of someone who is ignorant of the fundamentals of a particular art or area of knowledge. It is this broader meaning that is in view when, for example...
Truth & Consequences
How to Combat Secular Indoctrination
This fall, nearly two million American students will leave for college for the very first time. Their education will cost $12,000 a year for a public university and up to $50,000 for a private one. Scholarships and grants reduce the cost for most families, but still, the Wall Street Journal reports that the average student leaves college with $23,186 in debt. Nationwide, the total cost for this transaction is somewhere between 25 and 40 billion dollars per year. At least families are getting their money's worth. Or not...
Why Students Don’t ‘Get It’
If Christian Smith and Melinda Denton are correct, our key concern in regards to the next generation is that they "get" Christianity. Our primary focus should turn from whether Christian students like church, or whether they think of Jesus as their best friend, or even whether they know why they believe what they believe (though that has been a useful tag line for Summit Ministries for years). Primarily, if Smith and Denton are correct, our focus should be teaching them what Christianity is because, simply put, they don't get it. My experience working with students, most having strong histories in conservative evangelicalism (and representing almost evenly home, private Christian, and public schooling), suggests Smith and Denton are right. I often hear students describe their experience of Christianity in these terms: "I've been a Christian my whole life, but I don't really get it." Or, "I prayed the prayer when I was four, but I don't think it stuck." Or, "I committed my life to Christ when I was fifteen, but I am not sure it stuck." How is it that students who are so deeply engrossed in church culture and who have more access to the Bible, Christian literature, youth programs, and other resources than any generation that has lived since the founding of the church, can be so confused about what Christianity actually is and why it matters? How is it that they possess such a truncated, neutered view of the Kingdom? How is it that these students just don't "get it?"
How to Survive Psychology Graduate School
I recently received the following email: I have a friend who is in graduate school in Psychology at the University of Colorado. She's spent $17,000 (so far) on her education and cannot afford to transfer. But she's finding that if her Christian worldview informs any of her thinking on papers, on exams, etc., she will be downgraded. Other students have told her that if she even appears to espouse a Christian worldview she won't graduate. One of her biggest problems is that she is being forced to (at least appear to) view same-sex marriage as an acceptable alternative lifestyle when she strongly objects to it. I don't know to what degree the school's administration may be under pressure to indoctrinate students into a politically correct, left wing mold, but it worries me. I'd expect this sort of thing at UC-Boulder, but not here. Any suggestions?
Academic Freedom Day
The famous Pink Floyd song that laments, "We don't need no education / We don't need no thought control," is not just the rant of a rebellious mind; it is also a sad commentary on the lack of academic freedom in education today. Academic freedom does not simply mean you have the freedom to agree with everyone else. True academic freedom means you have the freedom to think for yourself — even when your views run counter to the majority "elite." In the scientific community, academic freedom is vital because science only progresses when scientists are able to think for themselves and ask hard questions about the prevailing wisdom. Few scientists understood the importance of the principle of academic freedom better than Charles Darwin...
Is There a War between Science and Religion?
Many people today have the impression there is a war between modern science and religion, and that science has won the day. But is that really the case? Are scientific knowledge and religious ideas incompatible? Has science replaced religion as the means for understanding life and mankind's place in the universe? Dr. Ian Hutchinson, Professor at MIT, traces much of the blame for the current hostility between these two disciplines to Andrew Dickson White, former president of Cornell University. In 1898, White wrote a book entitled "A History of the Warfare of Science with Theology in Christendom." White's preface stated outright that he intended the book to support his battle against the church's control of higher education...
Expelled, the Movie
Most of us take academic freedom for granted. We assume that freedom of speech applies not only to the political and social arena but also to the halls of education. However, the foundations of freedom are experiencing seismic tremors in the academy. In the area of science education the freedom to pursue the truth where ever it leads is experiencing a major setback. It is the equivalent of a modern-day black-list! What can jeopardize someone's work in the academy? Criticizing Darwinian evolution, or, worse, suggesting that life displays evidence of . . . we better whisper it . . . intelligence.
The Influence of the Secular Humanist Worldview
Secular Humanism (SH) is a well-defined worldview. The Humanist Manifestos of 1933, 1973, and 2000 explain the details of their beliefs. Topping the list is their belief that God does not exist, or at least there is insufficient evidence for the existence of God. From that theological foundation, Secular Humanists have developed a comprehensive view on various issues, including the nature of man, moral values, the role of the state, plus other areas. Over the past 75 years, Secular Humanists have exerted significance influence over a wide range of culture shaping arenas, including...
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